


Origami Heart

by GalaxyKitty



Category: Janti - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Orphanage, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Hugs, I like the color silver, It's also a little sad, M/M, Origami, Rain, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sexual Content, Sleepy Cuddles, Slow Build, Smut, The characters start as young kids, They don't have parents, They get together like that at age 18 and 21
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 20:51:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16333244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyKitty/pseuds/GalaxyKitty
Summary: A brunet makes a small origami flower for another.So that's how it started.A made-up AU fanfic with no connection to the real people.





	Origami Heart

He didn’t remember how it happened, and quite frankly, he didn’t really want to know. Jack remembers that there was a time when he wasn’t in the orphanage, and then there was now. He was a young child, barely getting by in elementary school, but he found a way to manage. His home was small, only having the basic necessities, and there were more children than the caregivers could spend time with, so he was left to fend for himself.

At first he was left alone, the other children cautious of him, but it didn’t take long for them to tell that Jack wouldn’t be considered a tough kid. They started messing with him, playing pranks and harmless jokes, but when the brunet didn’t fight back, it only got worse from there. Soon they started stealing his school work, screwed with the very few belongings he had, and started taking portions of his food. The orphanage was dull and bland and the kids seemed to think Jack was the perfect target to mess with.

Who was he going to turn to for help? The caregivers already had enough to deal with, trying to keep track of everyone, pay the bills, make sure the house stayed in shape… they didn’t involve themselves in the squabbles of the kids.

“C’mon Jack, you won’t even use it.” One of the kids, the orange-haired Chad, scoffed when Jack returned to the home after the bus ride here.

That day in class, the teacher had let the students experiment with origami and let them take home a nice origami set. None of the other kids at the home had the same class as him, but one of them saw the set peeking out of his backpack and told the others.

“Uh… I actually am going to…” Jack mumbled, not making eye contact and frowning.

“No you won’t, anyway, we have to stick together here; you can’t keep all the goodies to yourself.” Chad sneered.

Jack didn’t want to make the remark that the orange-haired kid never shared anything of his.

“Come on.” Chad shrugged, watching as another kid stepped forward and tugged on the brunet’s backpack, taking it from his loose grasp.

Jack didn’t want to fight back; he was outnumbered anyway and it really wasn’t in his nature to get into trouble like this. It was just easier to let the kids do what they wanted. He watched as Chad took the backpack from the other kid, unzipping it further and poking at the origami set.

“See, you’re a nice kid.” The orange-haired child smiled in a fake manner.

The backpack was then snatched out of his hands and Jack had to raise his head to see the eyes of the kid, older than all of them, who walked off into another room with Jack’s bag and his belongings in it. Chad and his group seemed to frown at that but only huffed and walked the other way, not going to confront the other guy.

Jack was confused. He had never seen the taller boy before; not at the dining room or the large bedroom where all the kids slept with bunkbeds. He seemed to be older, but they didn’t have separate rooms for the older kids either. He hesitantly followed the direction where the mysterious kid went, walking down a hallway and found a door that had always been previously closed before not slightly open. He placed his hand on the wood, pushing it open slowly, but his wrist was grabbed suddenly and he was yanked into the room. He turned around quickly to see the taller kid throw his backpack at him before crossing his arms and staring at him with a cold gaze.

“Look, kid, you’re not going to get anywhere if you keep acting like that. This place is already hell, but if you don’t change your act, it’s going to be even worse.” The taller boy said lowly.

Jack blinked in surprise and slowly turned his head to look at the room he was in. It was quite small, having no windows either, but there was a bed and wooden dresser along with a tiny cluttered desk. The brunet then turned to look back at the older kid and saw his features. The kid had dark green dyed hair, parted to the side and almost covering his right eye, and he had a cut on his lip along with bandages across his hands and a white cloth-like one around his neck. He had an old black t-shirt and ripped black jeans, giving him a really intimidating look overall. When the brunet looked into his backpack, though, he noticed that the origami set along with everything else was still there, nothing being taken out or messed with. He pursed his lips and looked back at the cold green gaze from the other boy, but something was telling him that he wasn’t in danger here.

“Uh… thanks for…” He shook the bag in his hands a little to point out what he meant and the green-haired boy just huffed.

“Don’t expect anything else to happen.” The older rolled his eyes and walked past the brunet, brushing past his shoulder and pushed him towards the door.

The brunet got the message and quickly left, looking back after he got into the hallway only to see the door now shut.

 

A few days after that, Chad and the others were still making fun of him and never acted like they cared, but they didn’t confront him as much anymore. They would make side comments, purposely take up room on the couch to make him sit on the floor, use up other things like taking the last granola bar even though he was sure they didn’t like it or take their sweet time in the bathroom, but they didn’t try to take his stuff or stop him in the hallway or anything else similar to that like the used to.

It was odd, though Jack certainly wasn’t going to complain. He did notice them bugging a different kid more often, a new transfer, but it was still strange that they stopped bothering him when they all knew he was an easy target.

As the days went on, Jack also found that he was able to find the green-haired boy more often. The older kid stayed towards the walls, never talking with anyone and didn’t seem to stay in one place, but the brunet was able to catch him walking past in a room once in a while. He found that the green-haired boy was the first to get food at the dining room and the first to leave, he never played any of the board games or spent any free time with any of the other activities they had, never seemed to watch t.v., and never once walked into the bedroom area with the other kids.

Every now and then, though, the brunet was able to catch a glimpse of green eyes looking at him when they passed by one another. It was only for a short moment, sometimes being so small that Jack wondered if he actually saw it or was imagining the emerald glow, but it was there.

One day, a man and woman came to the home and the children met in the wide open area of the bedroom space. The brunet glanced around, wondering if the green-haired boy was here as well, but there was no sign of him.

He wondered about the older boy, wondered why he wasn’t around as much and why he didn’t stay with the other kids, and felt himself feel sad for him. Was he lonely? Did something happen to make him live alone in that tiny room? Was he going to be okay?

Jack still felt a little bad for not thanking him properly for giving him back his bag and now for getting the other kids to get off his back- he was certain it was because of the older boy’s doings. He still had some paper left from his origami set, having used the others to practice with, and spent extra time making a new one, being careful with the small creases and delicate bends.

He then stood outside the hallway where the green-haired boy’s room was, standing around the corner and barely peeking his head over to wait. Once he saw the door open and the boy walk out, he quickly ran over to the room on light feet and opened the door, spending only a moment to place a small yet intricate silver origami flower on the pillow before leaving just as quickly.

The older boy never said anything to him, never changing his act and nothing appeared to different at all, but when they passed by one another when Jack was going to breakfast the next morning, he could’ve sworn he saw a hint of silver swaying under the right ear of the older boy, hard to see from the hair covering it, but the thought made the brunet smile.

 

Time went on, homework getting a little easier now that the brunet had more time to work on it and less worrying about the others disturbing him or taking his work, but at the same time, getting farther into school meant the homework got harder as well.

One day, Jack found an empty room towards the back of the house and set his books and notes on the floor, laying on his stomach with a pencil in his hand as he got to work. English was easy and his history assignment was simply to copy over parts from the text, but when he got to the math portion, he got about half way through before he stopped to stare at the problems with a confused frown. He scribbled down multiple attempts, not getting any type of answer that he could write, and ended up laying with his cheek pressed against the left page of the math book while his right hand holding the pencil tapped his paper repeatedly in an attempt to think of any idea to answer the question with.

He fell asleep like that not too long afterwards, page sticking to his face, but was woken up by something lifting up his arm and dropping it back onto the floor. He lifted his head up, hearing the page peel off of his face, and blinked his eyes open to see the room darker than when he was awake and a person squatting in front of him. He rubbed his eyes, using his elbow with his other arm to prop himself up, and looked back at the person to see the distinguishable green hair of the older boy. The boy stared at him for a few moments, glancing down at the scribble of math that still hadn’t been answered, and frowned before standing up and walking off somewhere only to return to sit down in front of him and drop a small pile of coins on the wooden floor.

“You’re thinking too hard.” The older boy said plainly before smoothing out the pile of coins so they all laid flat on the floor.

He pointed to the math problem in the book that the brunet was currently working on, reading the numbers softly as he grouped the coins together according to the equation and then leaned back to get a better view of the metal objects.

“Think of it like pictures.” The boy murmured as he gestured to the coins. “And when it wants you to divide by six…” He put his hand over six of the coins and moved them into their own pile, doing that until there were multiple groups of six coins. “You get this.”

Jack frowned but nodded as he wrote down the equation on his paper, following what the older boy had showed him as the numbers changed until he finally got the answer. The boy stayed for the rest of the problems as well, showing the equation with the coins again and eventually getting the brunet to do it himself. They came across one problem that came out with an odd number, not being able to divide evenly, and the brunet separated the coins into groups only to have three left over.

“But then what are we supposed to do with this stuff…” Jack mumbled as he fiddled with the three extra coins.

“The answer is seventeen remainder three.” The green-haired boy huffed.

“That’s so stupid.”

“Because math is stupid.”

The brunet chuckled lightly at that, smiling a little as he wrote down the answer and finished up the final problem for his homework.

“Be happy this is how your math is right now; it only gets worse from here. You get to learn even more equations with even longer problems and more steps to find the answer.”

Jack let out a frustrated sigh as he closed his book at rested his cheek back on the cover.

“Why is math like this?” He grumbled.

“Because math wants to be a perfectionist and get every little detail correct.” The green-haired boy scoffed, causing the brunet to chuckle once more.

The younger boy cleaned everything up, setting his homework neatly in his notebook and put them all away in his bag. The older boy stood up and put the coins away, and as the brunet stood up and grabbed his bag to leave, he paused and turned back to face the other.

“Why’d you wanna help me?” He asked, confused as to why the older boy spent the time doing math with him.

“Because I want to be here alone and you were in the way.” The boy frowned.

The brunet hummed and nodded, turning back around to leave, but he knew that the boy would have just woke him up and told him to leave if that really was the only reason.

He smiled.

 

Jack wasn’t expecting the older boy to do anything like that again, and he wasn’t planning on falling asleep in the back room again either, though he did return to the back room when he was working on homework. It seemed like the other kids didn’t go back there often, if at all, and the brunet liked the quietness of it. He’s only seen the green-haired boy go into the room when it was late as well, so he thought it’d be okay to be there as long as he left before it got that late.

Everything worked out like he thought it would at first; the other kids didn’t bother him back there and he managed to finish his work before the older boy arrived. He got used to working back there after a while. Then he had one of his first book assignments. It wasn’t a real book report but it was similar to a report in a way to prepare the students for when they had to do it in future classes. Jack had a few pieces of paper and the sheet that had the questions he was supposed to answer lying next to them, pen in a hand with the book in the other. He was happy that the teacher was letting them write it out rather than using a computer, he didn’t want to try to get one of the cheap laptops the home had, especially because the older kids usually got a hold of them first.

He answered the first few questions, they were simple and just wanted an explanation to prove that he read, but as he got to the bottom of the list of questions, they started getting more difficult. He frowned, rereading the questions and dropped the pen as he opened the book and tried to find anything useful. He grumbled as he flipped between the pages, scanning them for keywords and sighing when nothing seemed to be helpful. He then heard a scoff and looked up from his book to see the green-haired boy looking down at him with an eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

“That book is ridiculously stupid.” The older boy rolled his eyes as he turned around and walked to the other side of the room where a large window was.

The boy then went on to explain why it was stupid, talking about how the twist ending was foreshadowed between two of the characters early on and how it was full of silly symbolisms and things of that nature. He made it sound really obvious, tone bored and belittling, and Jack thought he was honestly making fun of the book at first, but as the brunet looked down at the list of questions and read them again, he found that the older boy happened to answer them all.

He smiled once again.

 

Jack returned to the back room for his homework assignments as usual, but the older boy started showing up earlier than normal. The brunet was uneasy at first, thinking the boy might tell him to leave or find him a bother, but the green-haired boy didn’t say anything and usually just sat on the wooden space under the window. He would occasionally comment on the brunet’s homework, always talking about it like it didn’t concern him and was meaningless, but his comments always helped in one way or another. The younger boy also found that he was getting better at understanding the material for himself based on how the other explained it. It was easier to understand compared to the mechanic way that the teachers used.

It became almost a routine after that, the two of them sitting in that room together while Jack worked on his homework and the other sat in the window. The younger boy never saw the older ever do any of his own assignments, causing him to wonder if he did homework or if he managed to finish it early, but he knew they were both in school and the other boy seemed smart enough to get everything done.

 

Around three years after Jack met the older boy for the first time, he noticed that his appearance reminded him a lot of how the older boy looked when they first met. The green-haired boy had grown up himself, getting taller and looking more like a teenager, but he still had the bandage around his neck and his hair grew out a little longer to cover his right eye fully. The bandages around his hands changed places once in a while, sometimes more, sometimes less, and for a while there was one of the simple tan band-aids on his nose.

However, as the brunet walked into the bathroom, he stood in front of the mirror and looked at his reflection, seeing the similarities between him and the younger version of the green-haired boy. He brought up a hand to his face, covering his right eye and imagining it being his own hair covering it. He wanted to try letting his hair grow out after that, as it was quite a bit shorter than the other’s.

He felt his heart beat a little faster as he looked into the eyes of his reflection, imagining them being green instead of blue with green hair instead of brown, and stepped a little closer until he bumped the counter.

He blinked and the image disappeared, returning to his usual reflection as he shook his head and cleared his mind.

He was thinking too much into it.

 

Jack was fourteen when he started his first year of highschool. He didn’t know anyone in his classes and he was the only kid at the home in his grade; it wasn’t the greatest start to the year. The rainy season was starting to catch up as well, the soft patter of rain against concrete and windows becoming a familiar tune. The brunet would sometimes spend the lunch break sitting under a tree, less kids than usual as the rain dirtied up the grass and created muddy traps, but Jack found that the tree provided an umbrella like safety and he didn’t mind the few drops that landed on him.

It took him a few days to get comfortable in the high school setting; it was a bit intimidating when he saw a few of the older kids pass by through the halls and other groups roughhousing around. The classes were still generally split up by grade and he didn’t see anyone too bad with him, but it was still unnerving. He learned to keep his head down, stay out of trouble, and not do anything to bring attention onto himself. It was a lonely idea, but it was the only idea he had that he was okay with.

He had a setback in one of his classes while he was still trying to get used to the new style of school and he ended up needing to see one of his teachers after the final class got out. At first the brunet was fine with it, knowing they had to wait until after school since passing periods were extremely short and there wasn’t time during class to talk, but as the day got closer to the final bell, the rain started picking up as skies got darker. He frowned as he looked up during the last passing period under one of the outside hallways with covering. He let out a heavy sigh but continued on to his last class, hoping it would let up a little so he wouldn’t get too soaked when he had to leave.

The last bell of the day rang and Jack quickly packed up his belongings, slipping on one of the backpack’s straps over his shoulder and rushed over to the classroom of the other teacher. There were kids running all around him, trying to get out of the rain and splashing the puddles under their feet. He held a hand out over his eyes to try to stop some of the drops from hitting his face as he hurried over to the other side of the school and opened the door to meet with the teacher he was supposed to.

He held in a low grumble when he saw the teacher sitting at his desk with another student. The brunet frowned and looked out the window in the classroom, not being able to see where the bus would be waiting for him from here. He turned back to the other student and teacher, seeing the two of them in the middle of a conversation, and awkwardly waited to the side. He was nervous, he didn’t know how long he would have before the bus left, but he didn’t want to interrupt them either. He stood in place, fidgeting with his fingers as he looked around the room to try to calm his thoughts, but each second ticking by only served to make him more restless.

Finally, the other student was done talking, though the two of them made a joke and laughed for a few seconds, then waved goodbye. Jack pursed his lips but walked up to the teacher’s desk and greeted him. The brunet explained his situation, how he lives at an orphanage and didn’t have much in the way of help with homework like other students had with parents who could talk them through it. The teacher seemed to understand and was nice about it. They talked for a bit and cleared up some of the confusion that the brunet had, but when they finally finished their discussion, Jack looked up at the clock in the room and felt his eyes widen. He hastily said he goodbye and quickly left the room, starting to run as soon as he stepped outside. The rain was starting to seep into his clothing as he ran out from underneath the covers to try to get to the bus pick up area faster. The water splashed under his feet, shoes damp and the bottom of his jeans were turning brown from the muddy drops, but he ignored it to run faster. Just as he turned the corner, the lane where the bus he took would be waiting for him came into view, but it was empty. There were no other students in sight, all of them either already on their way home or hiding from the rain, leaving Jack to stand alone in the rain staring at the spot that used to have his bus.

He sighed, head hanging low as he turned around and slowly started walking towards his home, no longer having any motivation to keep himself out of the rain. He shuffled over to the sidewalk, staring down at the concrete path as he made it to the curb and pushed the pedestrian button for the crosswalk. He felt his hair start to stick to his face from the rain, clothes getting cold as well and he hoped it wouldn’t get too soaked into his backpack to protect the paper and books he had in there.

Then he heard the soft thudding of rain against plastic and didn’t feel the water hitting him anymore. He looked up to see a plastic umbrella overhead and turned to the side to be greeted by the older green-haired boy giving him a curious look, yet holding the umbrella up between the two of them.

“It’s been raining the past month… and you don’t bring an umbrella.” The older huffed, turning back towards the crosswalk. “Do you ever even think?”

Jack didn’t say anything, looking up at the older in surprise for a few moments, but let out a small sigh and looked back towards the crosswalk himself, feeling warmer even though the air was chilled.

They walked back to the home together in silence, but it was nice and the brunet felt himself relaxing a little. He saw that the older had a normal grey backpack decorated with a few pins, but what he focused on was one of the rubber wristbands that the school gave out to all the students, trying to encourage school spirit and all that, hanging somehow with one of the zippers. It was blue.

The school divided the different graduation years by color; Jack’s group was green and he would have that color for the four years he went to school here, but he knew the other colors as well. Blue was the color that the seniors right now had.

The brunet didn’t know much about the green-haired boy, but now he knew the other was three years ahead of him.

 

The next few days at school, Jack tried to look around to see if he could find the older boy at school. The brunet was a freshman, he didn’t have the same lunch period as seniors and their classes would be very different, but there’s still a chance to find him during the passing periods. However, he wasn’t able to find the fluff of green hair in the crowds.

He would sometimes glance at the curb where the two of them met in the rain, wondering if he’d ever see the older boy standing there, but he never saw him. The brunet would walk over to the bus, sighing a little each time as he stepped on and sat in his usual seat by the window. He’d watch the school slowly fade away in the distance as the bus drove further away, eyes lingering at the curb until he couldn’t see it any longer.

When he would return to the home, he would walk over to the back room to start on his homework. The older boy would return as well, not adding any comments or doing anything differently either, but the brunet was happy to see him still return.

The two would sit in the room, the sound of rain hitting the roof and ceiling acting as their background, and the brunet found he didn’t mind taking his time on the homework there.

 

Jack started getting nightmares. At first they weren’t bad; he would wake up in the middle of the night, tense and heart beating a little faster than normal, but he would realize it was just a dream and could go back to sleep again. Then they started getting worse. Sometimes he would end up laying in wide, eyes open and staring at the wall across the room, sometimes glancing over to the window. The other kids all seemed to stay asleep throughout the night, occasionally rolling over and shuffling the sheets, and the brunet would sometimes look over at the kids he could see and wonder if he was the only one having nightmares or not.

He told himself that he was thinking too much about the nightmares. He just had to ignore them and go to sleep; they’d go away eventually. He was losing rest, something he knew he needed, especially on school nights, but he kept being woken up by the dreams that kept getting worse and worse.

Usually the nightmares were more physically terrifying; they would have some type of scary monster or Jack would get some type of physical injury, sometimes even strikingly close to death. This night was different, though; it hit him emotionally. He couldn’t even remember clearly what had happened in the dream, half of it already blurring out of his memory, but he woke up with silent tears streaming down his face as the rain beat against the home and smeared the window. The room was dark, now harder for the brunet to see with tears obscuring his vision, but the other kids started to look more like dark figures, somehow resonating with the nightmare and causing his mind to think they were taunting him.

He quickly got out of bed, wiping his face with his sleeve as he stepped out of the room and walked over to the back area almost on instinct. He tried to be quiet, steps sounding louder to him in the stillness of the night as he quickly shuffled across the wooden floor, until he found the empty room where he did his homework. He looked over at the window, seeing the spot where the older boy usually sat at now empty, and walked over to it. He carefully sat on the wooden space, thinking that the window reminded him a little bit of a cubby, but the small moment of peace quickly faded when the nightmare returned to the front of his mind. He sat back against wall, leaning a little on the window as well, and tucked in his knees, wrapping his arms around them as well as he buried his head in them.

He listened to the rain, hoping it might calm him down a little, but the sudden burst of thunder brought him out of it and he tensed in place. He felt himself start to shake slightly, the crashing of thunder startling him each time it pierced the air, and his breathing picked up as he started to cry quietly once more.

There was a hand suddenly on his shoulder and he shot his head up. Another bolt of lightning struck the air, and as the flash of light lit up the room for a second, Jack could see the green glow of the other’s left eye and he recognized who it was.

They stared at one another for a few seconds before the older boy’s grip strengthened on his shoulder, eventually moving down to his lower arm as he started to pull the younger off the window. Jack blinked, confused, but followed as he was led down the hall to the door of the other’s room, watching as the green-haired boy opened it and walked the two of them inside. The older boy turned for a moment to close the door once more then walked them over to the bed. He got in first, lifting the covers and sliding over as he dragged the younger boy with him.

Jack’s eyes widened, not knowing what was going on, but the older simply made himself comfortable and closed his eyes to go to sleep. The brunet waited, wondering if that was it, and nothing else happened. Another roll of thunder hit the sky, but the brunet wasn’t startled that time and he realized the older boy did this to comfort him.

And he smiled; something he found himself doing a lot when it came to the green-haired boy.

 

The brunet was woken up early the next morning from the movement of the other. He blinked his eyes open, looking for the light of the window to try to tell what time it was only to remember there wasn’t a window in here. There was a small lamp on in the room, giving off a soft glow, and the brunet turned to see that the older boy had sat up and was looking over at him. The younger boy sat up as well, blanket falling down to his lap, and was face to face with the other. The two of them stared, not moving, but something about it was peaceful. The younger slowly lifted a hand up, touching the forehead of the other where the green-hair fell over his eye and gently moved it out of the way, tucking the majority of it behind the other’s ear.

Then the brunet looked into those stunning green eyes, clear in the dim light, and he wanted to stay here just to familiarize himself with them. He felt himself hold back the compliment, almost calling them beautiful out loud, but the green-haired boy spoke first.

“You should go back to your bed. You don’t want the others to find out that you had left.”

The brunet frowned but nodded, agreeing with the other and reluctantly got out of the bed, walking over to the door on bare feet. Before he opened it to leave, he turned around and looked at the green-haired boy once more.

“What’s your name…” The brunet said softly, wanting to know the answer to this question for years.

The older boy stayed quiet for a few moments, eyeing the other with an unreadable expression before finally answering.

“Anti.”

Jack’s eyebrows furrowed together, not believing it at first, then huffed a soft laugh.

“That doesn’t sound like a real name.”

“I chose it.” The green-haired boy responded. “Why should I have to live with a name that someone else, a stranger, chose for me?”

Jack hummed, understanding why he might think that, and opened the door to leave. He stepped out into the hallway, holding the side of the wood, and looked back one more time.

“I’m Jack…” He said and the green-haired boy smiled softly.

“I know.”

 

Jack returned to his own bed the next night, and though the nightmares didn’t return, he found he was having different dreams. They were mellow; not much ever happening, but he found that he liked them. The dreams would always include Anti in some way or another, but the two of them would usually just sit together in a calm peace. Sometimes they would sit under the shade of a tree, sometimes watching the fall of rain, sometimes together in Anti’s room relaxing, sometimes both reading a book.

Jack would wake up from the dreams and lay alone in his own bed, wondering if they would ever become reality someday. His mind would wander back to the night when he spent the night with Anti and he missed it. He wanted to sleep with the warmth of the other next him again, feel the other’s chest move with each breath; it was nice.

Would it be odd for the other boy? Did he ever think about something like this? Or would it be odd for a freshman and a senior to be together?

Jack guessed it seemed odd because he was still a kid; he just had to wait until he was older, when he would turn eighteen, and it wouldn’t be strange anymore.

Then a thought made him freeze, holding his breath as he stared at the wall, and he felt his eyes begin to blur. The home was not required to take care of the kids who turned eighteen; they would be considered adults and able to take care of themselves.

How old was Anti? He was a senior, but was he going to turn eighteen soon, or was he already eighteen? Was he going to leave? Was he going to leave Jack?

Anti was the only friend he had here, the only thing the brunet actually looked forward to here, the reason why he didn’t care that other kids found better foster homes or adoptive parents. If Anti left, he’d be alone here once more...

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and let himself calm down. It wouldn’t do any good to get himself worked up over this. Anti was still here.

He was still here.

 

Jack returned to the back room, another night of homework ahead of him, and found the green-haired boy sitting at the window. Usually Jack would sit on the floor and Anti would sit up in on his spot, neither of them speaking or interacting much, but this time the brunet grabbed his math book and notes and walked over to the window. He sat cross-legged on the ledge, back against the other wall and set his book on his lap. The older boy turned his head lightly, looking at the brunet for a moment before returning his gaze out the window. Jack looked down at his paper, seeing the math problems waiting to be written down, and sighed as he started the first one.

It was nice, even if there were no words spoken, and the brunet found his mind wandering again as he occasionally glanced up at the older boy. He was curious about the green-haired boy; there was an air of secrecy around him, but the brunet wanted to get to know him better.

“Can I ask a question?” The brunet murmured softly, eyes looking up from his book to watch the older boy turn away from the window once more.

His gaze stayed this time, green eyes staring coolly, and Jack took the silence as an okay since he didn’t deny it.

“Why do you have a room by yourself?”

The older boy frowned, gaze not moving, and for a moment Jack thought maybe that wasn’t something he should ask, but Anti eventually hummed softly and looked down at his bandaged hands.

“People want angels.” The green-haired boy murmured. “When they come here looking for a kid, they want someone to meet their expectations; they want a child that matches their perfect image. They can deny it all they want, but everyone comes in here with their ideal kid in mind.”

Jack frowned. He’s heard couples come in here before muttering to one another about how they wanted a certain kid or how they don’t match what they were thinking of. Not all of them were like that, but it was still disheartening to hear.

“This orphanage knows that.” Anti continued, looking out the window. “They want to make the kids here look as perfect as they can because they want to get rid of us. So when there’s a kid who looks different, who looks like troublemaker, who would make the other kids seem worse just because they live in the same home as them… you remove them from the picture. What’s the price of one person when the others would find other homes faster since the single kid will no longer ‘lower the presentation of the other kids’.”

Jack frowned more, finally understanding why, and felt himself get a bitter feeling towards the home once more at the thought of them isolating Anti like that because they didn’t want him to ruin how the other kids would look. He then heard a soft chuckle, a warm sound in a way, and looked up to see the older boy with a small smile.

“I quite like it. It’s a room to myself where I don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing what I’m doing. Privacy is a gift.”

The brunet smiled back a little but there was still a sense of lingering sadness. He set his book down to the side and carefully crawled over to the other, imitating the position the green-haired boy was in, but leaned his head down to rest against the older’s shoulder.

There was a pause, a moment of silence, and then the older boy lifted an arm up to hold the other boy’s shoulders.

 

The end of the schoolyear was getting closer and the school started announcing the upcoming prom. Jack didn’t care for it; it was something that was mainly for the seniors anyway. He would walk to the buses after class each day and come across a new couple finding some extravagant way to ask the other to prom. Sometimes a guy would gather all his friends to make a line, each holding something to spell out “prom” as the guy asking out his partner would hold a bouquet of flowers and kneel down on one knee. Sometimes a girl would run into the other’s arms, happy and smiling. Sometimes friends would gather around the couple with their phones, taking pictures and recording memories.

It was tacky; this couldn’t be real. No couple can be that cheesy.

But Jack still felt a small part of his mind wish he could have something like that for himself.

When the day of the prom came around, Jack sat on his bed, just having returned from eating lunch, and heard the crinkle of paper underneath him. He moved to the side, finding a folded piece of paper, and grabbed it as he made himself comfortable on the cushion once more. He opened up the paper, seeing neat writing in black pen, and read it quietly.

_”Don’t eat dinner”_

It spooked him a little at first; it was a very weird thing to see, but then he saw a small flower drawn at the bottom of it and Jack recognized it as the little origami flower he had made all those years ago. After all this time, did Anti still have that small silver flower?

So the brunet spent the rest of the day reading a book on his bed, and when it came time for dinner and the other kids went to the dining room, Jack stayed on the bed. He was hungry, stomach starting to growl, but he followed what the note said.

He was expecting something to happen, so he waited, and eventually the sky darkened to night. He finally got out of his bed and walked over to the back room, finding it empty, and stood at the window.

Was he supposed to do something? Was there something on the note that he missed?

The brunet turned around to go back to the bedroom, wanting to find the note and read it again to check if there really was something he missed. He took a few steps, heading back out of the room, but the sound of a light thump stopped him. It sounded like something hitting glass and he turned his head slowly to look back at the window. There was no one there, the same view of grass, a few trees, and the building next door, and he narrowed his eyes as he stood still. He then caught the movement of a small pebble hitting the glass, the soft thump returning, and he carefully walked over to the window once more. There wasn’t a screen set up at the window, so the brunet opened the sliding glass frame and crawled over to it on the ledge before sticking his feet out and hopped down onto the cool grass below him. He wasn’t wearing shoes as his bare feet touched the ground below, thankfully not wet from the sprinklers.

The brunet looked around for a few seconds, wondering what exactly was going on, and remembered to turn back to the window and close it as much as he could, leaving a small crack where he could slip his fingers in to reopen it. As soon as he moved his hands away, something grabbed his wrist and he was immediately dragged along to the side, stumbling for a few moments before regaining his balance and ran along to keep up with the other. He looked up, seeing green-hair ahead of him, and smiled for a second until the grassy path was coming to an end as the sidewalk and street came into view.

“Anti!” He said, half chuckling. “I’m not wearing any shoes.”

The two of them stopped right before they reached the concrete of the sidewalk. Jack’s wrist was released and he was still smiling, guessing the two of them would go back inside soon, but wasn’t expecting to be knocked over and somehow caught by the other’s back, being lifted into the air with his feet dangling awkwardly.

“Anti!” He yelped again, feeling the other stand up straight as he wrapped his arms around the older boy’s neck as well as pressing his legs against the other’s sides.

The older boy grabbed onto the underside of his knees, and without any other warning, took off onto the sidewalk.

It was already dark, streets lacking the usual vibrancy of other people walking about and talking. The roads were getting quieter, only having a few cars drive by once in a while as yellow lights illuminated the streets. When Jack looked up, he could see the beginnings of stars starting to make their appearance, clouds flowing away from sight as it left a clear view in the air. He wasn’t sure how Anti was able to carry him like this, running across the sidewalk almost as if he weighed nothing, but he liked it.

They eventually came to a tall brick building, window blinds closed and seemed quiet. The brunet was about to ask what they were doing here until the other started climbing up the fire escape. The younger boy squeaked and clutched onto the other tighter, not wanting to look down as they started climbing up each ladder, getting higher up past each story until they eventually reached the rooftop.

Jack was carried over to the edge on the other side, seeing something over there as well, and when they got closer, he realized it was a blanket and what looked like a bag of food. Anti set him down once he stepped onto the blanket, feeling the fabric softly under his feet, and walked over towards the edge before sitting down. Anti did the same, sitting on the other side of the bag, and opened it up to take out a to-go box and a smaller clear container that held two cupcakes. The to-go box was opened to reveal it being full of fries and Anti huffed a small laugh.

“Hope you like cheap take out French fries.”

Jack reached down to grab a fry, placing it half in his mouth before nodding his head and the fry sticking out from his lips made the movement silly.

“Good, ‘cause that’s all I got here.” The older boy added.

The two of them then sat on the blanket on the roof, slowly eating fries as they switched between looking up at the stars above and down at the cars and life below. It was oddly peaceful; no one was around to bother them and the night seemed to be quieter from up on the roof. It wasn’t cold either. Maybe there was a small bit of luck on their side.

“Sometimes I like to sit up on a roof and watch the people below.” Anti started saying softly, looking ahead as the last of the fries were finished. “I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know where I’m supposed to go with my life. And sometimes I look down at everyone else, seeing them continuing on with each day like nothing has changed, and I realize that the world keeps moving on with them.”

Jack looked over at him, seeing the moonlight reflecting off his skin in a soft silver glow. He stayed quiet, wanting to know the other’s thought.

“At first I was caught up in trying to find my own place, trying to find how I fit in with the world… but then I realized that the world doesn’t care who you are, it doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, if you’re smart or not, if you know what you’re doing or if you’re clueless… the world stays the same and doesn’t change for anyone. So that’s what I’ve decided for myself… I am who I am and I won’t change because someone else thinks I should. I’m living here just like everyone else is.” The green-haired boy then turned to look at the brunet, eyes soft. “Same goes for you… don’t change yourself to try to fit in with someone else’s standards.”

Jack stared back in surprise, not expecting that to be what the older boy was going to say, but felt himself smile and look back at the world below.

“Do you ever think about the future, though?” The brunet asked.

“I do.” The older replied simply. “I have an idea in mind… but all I can do is wait and see what happens.”

The empty fry box was moved back inside the bag, leaving the two small silver cupcakes as the only thing left. Jack glanced down at them, wondering if there was a special reason or not. Anti caught him looking, humming softly and reached down to open the plastic case. He took one of the cupcakes for himself and nudged the plastic over towards the brunet.

Jack picked up the other cupcake, turning it in his hand a little to watch the light reflect off the silver frosting. He slowly peeled the wrapper off of one side and took a bite, tasting the sweet sugary frosting and simple vanilla pastry.

“Is there a reason?” He decided to ask.

It was vague, but the other understood what it meant. Why are they on a roof eating cheap fries and light cupcakes?

“Anti-prom.”

Jack paused from taking another bite of the dessert, moving it down to his lap as he felt his mouth open with a small “oh”. He then felt his heart flutter a little, feeling a small blush form on his cheeks. Anti had taken him to, well, an anti-prom. What a fitting name.

The brunet finished the cupcake quickly, setting the wrapper back in the plastic container and scooted over towards the other boy. He leaned his head down on the other’s shoulder, closing his eyes, and listened to the quiet sounds of the city below them.

He remembered sitting in that position for a while, mind relaxing in the night, and he remembered a small breeze begin to pick up and cause him to shiver a little. He had cuddled closer to the older boy a little, seeking a cover against the cold, and then felt something wrap around his form like a blanket.

He was happy, a small smile gracing his lips, and he dozed off without even realizing.

 

When he woke up, he didn’t feel the cool air of the outside and felt that he was being carried. He slowly opened his eyes, taking a second to understand his surroundings, and saw he was in the back room, window now closed and locked. He had an arm around Anti’s neck with his head over the other’s shoulder, watching as the room got farther as the other walked away. He then saw Anti’s door pass by, realizing that the green-haired boy was taking him back to the main bedroom, and he mumbled an incoherent whine as he reached his hand out to reach for the door.

Anti paused, head turning to see what the other was doing, and sighed lightly. He turned around, going back to the door leading to the small room, and opened it to go inside. The brunet snuggled back into the other’s neck, happy with the change, and stayed in the other’s arms as they got into bed. He fell asleep quickly, warm under the covers and found the familiar scent of the other was becoming a pleasant comfort, lightly reminding him of jasmines.

That morning, Jack stayed in the room. He was woken up early once more, the green-haired boy telling him that he should return to the other bedroom before the others woke up, but he shook his head lightly and stayed. Anti didn’t protest; he frowned softly, but he let the younger stay.

From then on, that’s where Jack stayed. He finally got to see what the older boy did with his time. It was reading mostly, sometimes doing something on his phone, but he didn’t leave the room. When the two of them had to return to school the following Monday, the brunet stayed with the other, finding that he walked to school. They left earlier than what Jack was used to from the bus, but he found he didn’t mind. The morning’s air was cool and he liked walking with the other. Maybe it was a simple thing, not holding anything special in the eyes of others, but it meant something to the brunet. Then, after school, he would find the green-haired boy once more and they would walk back to the home.

They would return back to Anti’s little room, setting their bags down, and the brunet learned that the older boy did in fact have homework. The two of them would sit on the bed together, books and papers across the sheets, and work together silently. The older boy would always finish quickly, closing the book and putting everything away in his bag, but he would then sit over by the other boy to see how he was doing.

The days would continue like that; they would walk to school together, walk back home, work on homework, and spend the rest of the day relaxing. Jack started to see things he hadn’t seen before, seeing the older boy starting to act more relaxed around him with eyes showing a soft reflection. Jack would cherish the moments when he was able to get the older boy to laugh, the soft chuckles warm and gentle. Some mornings they would wake up early and face each other, saying nothing, and Jack would gaze into those gentle green eyes, sometimes still clouded with sleep.

 

He was sixteen when he wanted to kiss the green-haired boy. He didn’t, but the thought would appear and linger in his mind. Sometimes he would manage to wake up before the other boy and watch his sleeping face, calm in a dream. He sometimes thought about sneaking a kiss, no one would know, but he held back. He would wait. Anti was still here. He could wait.

He also noticed that Anti still left to go somewhere while the brunet went to school. Sometimes he would leave on the weekends and Jack would wait alone in the bedroom. The older boy would be gone for hours and return without bringing it up. Jack didn’t ask about it, he knew that Anti could tell he wondered about it, but if the older boy didn’t want to bring it up… then he would be okay with it.

Anti was still here; he still returned each day. That’s what mattered.

 

He was seventeen when he noticed a lot of the kids he was used to seeing were gone. He didn’t really pay attention to them before, he followed the motions and the other kids happened to be there, but he realized that he was the “big kid” now.

Where was Chad? It’s not like he cared, Chad could go do whatever it is Chads do. He wasn’t here though; he must have turned eighteen.

The thought was frightening, though. He was seventeen, a year away from turning eighteen, and then he would be on his own. How was he going to survive? He didn’t have a job or any idea of what to do. There was no one he could turn to… no one but Anti.

He was certain Anti was older than eighteen now, yet he was still here.

Jack’s mind was confused. He wasn’t sure what that meant or if he should be worried. He didn’t want to think about it, though. He didn’t want to think about what’s going to happen to him in the future, he didn’t want to think about how he might be kicked out and all alone. What about school? What about college?

He remembered one night, Anti had gotten back from wherever he went out to, and when the two of them laid down in bed to go to sleep, the brunet cried in his arms. The older boy rubbed his back, murmuring soft words, and held him closely.

That’s when Jack knew he had fallen for the other.

His senior year passed by quickly. Anti still walked him to school and met with him when it was time to leave, but the classes seemed to go by in a blur. February was getting closer and closer and soon his birthday would be here.

He wasn’t ready.

Yet, he remembered what Anti had said on the rooftop that night. The future wasn’t going to wait for him, but he had an idea in mind that he hoped would happen. All he can do is wait and see.

So the brunet had his idea, his dream for the future, and he waited. The first day of New Year came and went, the first day of February passed by, and as quickly as everything seemed to fly by, Jack’s birthday was only a few minutes away.

He sat awake in the window of the back room, sitting where Anti usually was, and watched the rain pour outside in the darkness. Small streaks of the rain would fall down on the glass, drops racing downwards and morphing together if they touched. Tomorrow morning he was going to leave; the home had him pack the few belongings that he had and he would be on his own.

So this was it.

This was how it happened.

He felt himself wanting to cry, but at the same time he thought of it as a new beginning. It was bittersweet.

He held his small phone out in front of him, screen unlocked as it showed the time.

11:56.

Another minute passed by and he looked back out the window, wondering if another thunderstorm would be on its way. Would he be stuck outside in the rain?

11:58.

What if he couldn’t find a job? How hard was it to find a job in the first place? Would he be able to do it?

11:59.

What about school? He still had a few months of senior year to go. Would he be able to finish it? Would he graduate?

12:00.

And that was it. Jack was eighteen today.

He felt himself sigh, locking his phone and watching the screen go black, and turned around to move his legs off the window seat and onto the floor. However, as he turned his head and looked back at the room once more, standing in the middle of it with a bouquet of flowers was Anti. The brunet stepped down onto the wooden floor hesitantly, walking over quietly to the other and once he was in front of the bouquet, he realized that they were not real flowers but rather silver origami ones. He looked back up at the other, seeing that the older had tucked his hair back for once to reveal both of his eyes with the same soft glow of green.

“Happy birthday.” The green-haired boy murmured softly and the brunet smiled, taking the bouquet in his hands and found the delicate details of each petal.

He looked back up at the older boy, seeing a small smile on his lips as well, and he knew what future he wanted to find next.

“What would you want as a birthday present?” The older boy asked.

Jack stood still for a moment, thinking of that dream he wished for, and took the chance. He moved the bouquet out from between the two of them and stepped forward, closing the distance, and tilted his head up slightly to place his lips against the other’s. It was a soft kiss, slow and gentle, but Jack would never forget the warmth of happiness he felt when the other kissed back. They lingered, not wanting to break apart, and the brunet rested his arms on the other’s shoulders with the bouquet behind when they finally moved away enough to speak.

“You.” The younger boy murmured his response, and the older boy stared back like he couldn’t trust what he was hearing, that maybe this all was still just the dream they had imagined.

Then he cupped the brunet’s cheeks and kissed him once more. They could feel each other smiling through it, feel the affection finally making its way to the surface, and Jack felt himself wanting to cry for a different reason now. They walked back together to Anti’s small room away from the others and Jack set the bouquet down carefully on the dresser when they stepped inside. They walked over to the bed, sitting together, and the older boy eventually knocked the younger down to lay against the cushion as they met for another kiss. Jack felt time finally seem to slow down for once as he ran his hands through the other’s hair and deepened the kiss, feeling their tongues slide together to make soft sounds.

Anti would take turns between pressing their lips together or moving down to the brunet’s cheeks and neck, wanting to kiss against every spot, and the brunet felt himself giggle slightly. He then slipped his hands underneath the green-haired boy’s shirt, bringing the cloth upwards and over his head, but his eyes trained back onto the bandage wrapped around the other’s neck. He slipped his fingers underneath the white wrapping and the older boy paused to lean back away from kissing his neck, eyes staring now with a hint of unease.

Jack gave him a moment, gave him time to say no if he truly wasn’t comfortable, but when there was no protest, he carefully undid the wrapping and loosened the bandage until it fell away and was moved off the bed. In its place revealed a long scar across the older boy’s neck, faded from time, but easy to see all the same. Anti moved to let the two of them lay on their sides on the bed, eyes still looking into the other to try to find any sense of a reaction. The brunet didn’t say anything just yet, though, and instead grabbed the other boy’s hands and unwrapped the white bandages there too, revealing more scars, but these ones looked old and not as bad. These ones would heal. He looked up to see the worry in the other’s eyes growing, uncertain and afraid, so the brunet laced their hands together, fingers intertwined, and leaned down to kiss the scar on the other’s neck. He felt the older boy pause, caught off guard, then gently squeezed their hands being held together.

Countless minutes passed, the two of them staying together in each other’s arms, and their fears began to fade away. They had each other.

Anti had slipped the younger boy’s shirt off eventually as well, letting the two of them feel their chests rest together as hands ran against one another. Then the brunet moved his hands down to the other’s pants, unbuttoning the top of it and started to pull the zipper until a hand caught his wrist and caused him to pause. He looked up to see the silent question in green eyes and tried to smile reassuringly.

“I want you.” He murmured quietly, not wanting to break the moment like it was a secret.

“Are you sure?” The other asked and the brunet nodded, smiling as he placed a soft kiss against the other.

He continued with his earlier movement, getting the other’s pants loose enough to slip off as he did the same to himself until eventually the two of them laid on the bed without clothes between them. It was slow, the two of them taking their time to feel the other’s skin and appreciate being close like this. The older boy soon reached his hand over to the side, and down between the bed and the wall, somehow grabbing a small bottle from there and placed it next to them on the bed.

Jack heard the other open the bottle, knowing what was going to happen next, and reached up to slip his fingers into the other’s hair and kiss him again. He felt as the older boy rubbed a finger between his legs while he was on his back, cold and slick from the substance in the bottle, and relaxed when it pressed inside. He sighed as the older boy stretched him open, kissing against him with affection and warmth, and spread his legs more after the third finger.

He murmured that he was ready, that he wanted to feel the other now, and they rested their foreheads together as the older boy positioned himself and pushed inside. It was a tight shift, an obvious difference from the fingers before, but the brunet encouraged the older to keep going until they were fully together. The green-haired boy waited for the other to adjust, to get more comfortable, and they shared chaste kisses and small laughs, feeling the warmth of finally being together like a flame in the snow.

When the older boy finally moved, Jack felt his breath get caught in his throat and clench his teeth together to hold in a moan. The older boy smiled softly as he pressed his nose against the other’s cheek, hands moving down to grab the younger’s legs and press them up higher before he moved again. He started to speed up, feeling the bed start to move beneath them, and the brunet brought a hand up to cover his mouth as he felt the other slide in deeper, reaching further than he had thought, and tears started to form in the corners of his eyes from the feeling. Their bodies started to move together, grateful that the bed didn’t make too much of a sound, and the brunet arched his back as the pleasure spread throughout his figure.

The green-haired boy moved down slightly to bite the other’s shoulder, smirking when the brunet squeaked and moaned under his hand still covering the sounds. The older boy shifted his hands again, telling the younger boy to keep his legs there as he adjusted his own hands to grip the boy’s hips, and the boy shut his eyes when the older thrusted inside at the new angle. He felt the older reach that bundle of nerves that made him want to yell out from the feeling, thanking whatever deity there was that he managed to keep his voice down as the older practically abused that spot.

It was the most heavenly thing he’s ever felt before, though, and he moved his hand away from his mouth for a moment to cup the other’s cheeks and bring their lips together once more. The sounds were muffled by the kiss from then, and when the brunet felt he was close, he tightened his grip against the other until he felt himself come between the two of them. He felt the older boy falter in his movements, feeling the younger clenching around him, and felt as the older boy thrusted inside a few more times before he pushed in as far as he could and released inside of the younger, warmth spreading once more.

They shared heavy breaths, calming down, and Anti moved to lay the two of them on their sides, still together. They gazed into each other’s eyes once more, full of affection and contentment, and they smiled. After a few minutes, as much as they wanted to stay together like this, Anti moved to slip out of the other and got out of bed, putting on a pair of sweats as he left the room. He returned shortly after with a cloth, slightly damp, and cleaned up the younger boy, leaning over to peck his lips once in a while. They cuddled up together afterwards, skin still buzzing with emotion, but they fell asleep with a new future in mind.

The next morning, they woke up early and Jack felt his concern return. He had to leave today. Anti caught him starting to panic and quickly calmed him down, saying that everything was going to be alright and he wasn’t going to be alone.

Anti was still here. They were going to stay together.

The green-haired boy explained what he had been doing these past few years. He had gotten a job when he was supposed to leave the home and he made a deal with the caregivers that the majority of his income would go to them to pay for food and bills and all of that in exchange for letting him stay. That’s where he had gone when the brunet noticed he had left and he managed to get times during the school year that fit with Jack’s schedule so he could walk the boy to school, go straight to work, and then come back to walk together back to the home. At the same time, he had been saving the money that he didn’t give to the caregivers all these years, and as time went on, he was able to get promoted a little to get a better income. He explained that the two of them could leave the home now and he wouldn’t be giving any more of his income to the caregivers.

“So your job…” Jack murmured as the two of them laid in bed in the silence of the morning. “How much does it give you?”

“Enough for a simple apartment and the necessities to live.” The older boy responded softly, eyes shining with hope and the younger boy couldn’t help but start to laugh.

“You… you seriously thought all of this through.” He smiled, tears returning once more as he couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have this.

“I’ve been thinking about this for years.” The older smiled back and brushed a thumb against the other’s cheek, wiping away the stray tears that fell.

“I can’t believe this… I can’t believe _you_.” Jack huffed, pressing back against the other’s hand and wanting to hide his face.

“So…” Anti murmured, moving Jack’s face back up to bump their noses together. “You wanna get out of here?”

“Definitely.” The brunet nodded and pecked the others lips.

They got out of bed, making everything neat for the last morning they would stay there, and Anti packed everything for himself as Jack grabbed his own bag. They set everything on the bed, deciding to visit the back room with the window one last time as they watched the morning’s light begin to illuminate their small view. The brunet held onto the older boy’s hand, fingers between one another, and they walked back to the room they no longer lived in, grabbed their belongings, and started their new life.

They weren’t alone anymore.

 

Anti brought him to the apartment he had found for when they left. It was between the school and his work place and in a nice spot. It was small, only one bedroom, though neither of them minded that part, and seemed to lack spirit, but Jack set up the origami bouquet to sit on the coffee table of the small living room area and they imagined how they could eventually turn this sad apartment into a warm home.

Jack finished high school, graduating with the other students, and Anti gifted him with another origami flower arrangement, this time being a silver origami lei. When they got home, the brunet hung the lei around the side of the headboard in the bedroom.

Anti helped him find a job and soon the two of them saved enough money to get a simple car. A few years passed as they spent their days saving up more and finding time to just relax and be together. They had gotten a cat, a Siamese, to try to add a little life to the apartment, though it seemed the feline spent most of the day sleeping. They still loved her, though. Anti would always tease the younger boy, saying that the cat’s blue eyes reminded him of the other, and Jack would respond by faking a hiss and making a clawing motion.

Anti started talking about buying a house after they had a good amount of money saved up; he had already looked up potential homes and areas and price ranges. Jack had another idea in mind, though, and finally managed to get the courage to ask the other about it.

The two of them were sitting cross-legged on the bed when the brunet finally took a deep breath and said it straight out.

“I think we should go to college.”

Anti looked back in surprise, humming a little as he pursed his lips.

“Why do you think that?” He asked after an odd moment of silence.

“It would be good for us; we can get better jobs and maybe we can find out what we want to do for a career and we can find a major that fits us.”

Anti tapped his fingers against his legs, looking down as he thought about it, and Jack picked his hands up to hold them and gave a reassuring smile.

“We don’t have to go to one of those fancy ones. We can find a simple college that we’ll be able to pay for and work on our general education first. We can take all of the same classes together and we can pick a major later.” The brunet continued.

Anti stared at their hands together, eventually looking up at the shining blue eyes of the younger boy, and sighed lightly but smiled afterwards.

“You’ve been thinking about this for a while, huh.”

“Yes.” Jack chuckled lightly. “We’ll be in the same grade this time, too.”

That made the green-haired boy grin, pulling the younger boy over to him and wrapped his arms around the younger’s frame.

“I suppose it’s not a bad idea.” He gave in, hearing the brunet smile through his words as he started talking about all the ideas he had in mind for their new college life.

They applied to the same college, easily getting in since it was a basic one, and on the first day of school, they walked up to the front of the campus with their hands held together. The brunet looked over to see a small silver flower hanging from Anti’s right earring and he looked down to see a small silver flower on a ring around his right hand.

Anti was here; Jack was with him. Whatever struggles the world might try to throw at them, they were going to get through together.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been having trouble updating my other stories, the multi-chapter ones; I’ve been stressing out over it, trying to live up to the expectations that grow on it, feeling like I’m not doing good enough. When I had the idea for this story in mind, I sat down and wrote it out. I spent a lot of time just working on the smallest details; I checked how orphanages worked, googled school buses, I asked my mom so many questions about prom since I didn’t go to mine (I had an anti-prom instead, and yes that’s a real thing) and she took out her old photos and showed them to me. Sometimes I was smiling so much writing this that I started playing energetic music and danced around with the story in my head, sometimes it was late at night and I played relaxing music, sometimes simple video game instrumentals. I wrote this story, I did my best, and I’m happy. I know I’m still learning how to write stories, but practice makes perfect right? I remembered that I should be happy writing my own stories, and if someone else doesn’t like it, then that’s fine, but I’m still proud of my work.
> 
> I hope you are all proud of what you can do too c:
> 
> One of the songs that came on while I was writing was [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPvO1sZkOx0). I thought it was kind of nice here.
> 
> [Picture](https://galaxykitty42.tumblr.com/post/179170002400/you-are-not-alone-well-fight-through-this-world)


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